We have 4 cats and a dog...which has never been an issue. When I got pregnant one of the kittens who is now 1 plus years old started peeing outside the box. We found out she had a UTI...treated her and it hasn't stopped. I now have this beautiful baby boy and she is still peeing. When we seperate her from the others she goes in the box...so we think she is trying to be the alpha cat and my other female adult cat is saying no way no how...so it has turned into a pee off. My husband and I are sick over this because she is such an awesome cat... We have tried Feliway, aluminum foil, sprays, pepper, she is winning the battles..:) Please does anyone have any advice in this situation or should we be looking for a home for her without any other cats? We are just needing to remedy this with an infant life is different for sure! The older cats are female and male..they are great.. the two younger ones are both females sisters and so much fun.. This has gone on for about 6 mos now so we are at the end of the rope!
Have you tried a 2nd litter box? My mom's cat was doing this and the vet told her to put another litter box in the house (they want a choice). So my mom lived in a small apt. with one cat and 2 litter boxes, but the cat stopped going on the floor.
Good Luck :)
Oh, this is a toughie. As "mom" to a number of problem fur-children over the decades, the repetitive cat pee is the worst! Sounds like you've done all the right things, as far as medical and behavioral.
A few suggestions:
1. up the number of litterboxes you have in the house. Gross, I know, but if it's territorial peeing that might help. (I had a kitten once who, at four months, started peeing on the couch. My husband and I agreed that if he didn't stop by six months he was going to the pound. Then I remembered that we only had one litterbox for two cats, and that at his birth-mama's home they had an extra litterbox next to the sofa! I put another kitty potty next to our sofa and sure enough, the kitten jumped right in and started digging like crazy. Except for one lone incident, the peeing on the couch ended. We were also eventually able to move the box away from the couch, so it all worked out fine.)
2. we had a cat growing up who was the sweetest kitty ever, only he could not stop spraying. My mom tried everything from Valium to surgery but nothing worked. Finally she just turned him from an indoor cat who occasionally went outside to an almost full-time outdoor cat. Not something I'd reccommend for city folk, but if you live somewhere safe maybe you could keep her outdoors.
3. I had a feral cat for ten years. He was awful and peed on everything. Near the end of his life, the vet prescribed an anti-anxiety drug which worked for a little while.
Otherwise, good luck and keep us posted.
My cat had a similar issue with the UTI and peeing in the house. She did not just need to be treated, but also needed to eat a special food for every meal for the rest of her life. Once she was on this diet, she stopped having issues and used the litter box. I do not remember what kind of food it was, but your vet will know because it is for cats with urinary or kidney/bladder issues. Also, you do need to have multiple litter boxes as others have suggested. When we had three cats we had three boxes. Some even say to have one more than the number of cats you have. I really hope you find an answer because I know from experience how much you really want to keep your kitty!
My cat had to be put on anti-anxiety meds. He wasn't peeing necessarily, but spraying most of the time. We tried a few and settled on Buspirone (sp?). You might also try putting a separate litter pan hopefully just for her somewhere..... Good luck!
How many litter boxes do you have with that many cats?? The fact is you are suppose to have a litter box for each cat you have. You some times can get away with have 2 boxes one for the females and one for the males. Some females will not use a box that a male has gone in. That just a fact, don't know why.
If you are not already using Fresh Step Multi, try it. It helps take away the odors so the others cats can not smell one anther.
Do you clean the box every day?? If you just scoop that may not be taking care of the odor. You can now buy sifter liners, with as many cats as you have sifter liners would work great for you. You put the liners in the box, put sift able litter in and then every time you clean the box you lift out one liner let the litter sift through and add a scoop of new litter, through the liner and the dirty litter away.
S.
Hello.
I too had a cat that was peeing outside the box we found out she had a UTI and we treated it. However she continued to go outside the box so I took her back in,the UTI had returned. See if you cat has another UTI. If she does ask your vet for C/D cat food. Thats what we put our cat on. Another thing is your kitten may be picky about her litter or she may be one of those cats that has to have a clean box. Good luck
Hi H.!
I feel your pain... we have 2 huge dogs and 3 cats, an 18-month old, and another on the way in less than 2 months. It can get a bit overwhelming!! First of all, do you have more than one litter box? We have 3 boxes since we have 3 cats. That seems to keep them all happy! I did have an issue with one of the cats peeing outside the box, and, believe it or not, placing unwrapped bars of Irish Spring origional scent soap in the places where she was peeing stopped the problem! We also switched the litter in the boxes to "Cat Attract" brand (you can find it at PetSmart) to lure her back to the box. After she was back to going in the boxes we were able to switch back to a cheaper brand. Good luck and congrats on your new little one! :-)
Hi H.
I have gone thru this with cats and dogs, when i was pregnant one of my dogs not only started marking the house the stinker started marking me every chance he got. it was a nightmare!
you definately need more litterboxes as gross as that can be, there should be one on every floor of the house along with one for every cat you own does not hurt to have an extra. this is also where your vet comes in, check for uti again they can be very persistent, can even be chronic, change of food can be very helpful, even kitty prozac like someone suggested. hopefully you have a great vet that can get you thru this, if in the end you have to get rid of the cat, i can help you find it a home if you need help. i have a pet service and lots of fantastic clients. your vet would also be able to try to help you place the cat, shelters are of course an option however with the economy as bad as it is they don't have room and have very long waiting times.
good luck
V.
Try putting another litter box in a different location. We have 2 cats and we were having a similar issue. The less dominant cat was going outside because she was not liking where the other was going. We ended up with another litter box in the upstairs bathroom and that has helped A LOT! BUT it took some time at the beginning. Good luck.
Hi H.,
It does seem to be a behavioral issue if she will go in it if separated. Do you only have one litter box? The rule of thumb with cats is one litterbox per cat. I have three and have three litterboxes. Never had a problem. Try giving her a separate box, and see if that helps. Don't give up on her!!!! Have you talked to your vet, or check online, there are many sites that help pet owners with these issues! Good luck and hang in there, you just have to figure out what the root of the problem is and deal with it vs. trying to mask the problem with sprays etc....
H.,
How many litterboxes do you have? The recommendation is to have one more litterbox than you have cats. So in your case you should have 5 litterboxes. This way cats are not able to play the dominance game with the boxes.
Hope that helps!
~A.
This is so sad when this happens. My mother is dealing with almost the EXACT situation and is about to throw in the towel as well. Her cat started with a nasty UTI and my mom got it treated. It was a very aggressive one, though and she had to take her back to the vet. She has tried the separate litter boxes, keeping the cats separate, keeping the litter box fastidious--all to no avail. It seems some cats just need to be only cats or farm cats! Don't beat yourself up. There comes a point when you have to do what's best for the whole family and your sanity! You have obviously tried all you can think of. You can give her to a rescue depending on her breed and they will keep her until they can find a suitable home for her special needs. I'm so sorry. This does not sound like it is going to resolve. I would get rid of the youngster. :(
Ditto to everything below. Have her checked again for a UTI. There is now a shot that works wonders for that. They are hard to detect and hard to get rid of. Second, get another litterbox. Third, anti anxiety meds are a godsend. Not all vets will give them. Our cat used to get so upset--he would snap at us, try to dominate out other cat, jump on him when he got out of the litterbox. Most vets said he was just that way because of our kids. Ha! Finally someone listened--he was put on kitty prozac and was a happy kitty. Good luck!
You have seemed to try everything I know of. We have a three year old cat that has been a nervous one since we brought him home. He would pee all over when things were out of the ordinary. I tried everything also. We ended up putting him on the feline version of prozac and no more peeing anywhere anytime. He is like a new cat. The vets don't like to do this because it does cause liver issues but if it means staying a part of your household they may try it. Also, it may not be a permanent thing. Our guy will be on them permanently but it doesn't sound like this has been a problem for you until now. So maybe a short term thing will work. Good luck.
